The Parkhead club had been locked in talks with the La Liga side after increasing their initial offer by £500,000.

After missing out on the Spaniard, Celtic also failed in an 11th-hour bid for Newcastle striker Leon Best.

Record Sport understands Molina, 29, was keen on a move to Glasgow but Betis rejected the Hoops' final bid.

Celtic were willing to hand the Spaniard a three-and-a-half year deal worth £16,000 a week but after extensive negotiations Betis decided to keep their star man.

A source at the club said: "The offer from Celtic was insufficient and our coach didn't want to let Jorge leave.

"With the timing, it would have been impossible to find a replacement. Celtic were very late in entering into negotiations."

And Celtic also made a late effort to sound out the signing of Irish hitman Best on a loan deal.

With Senegalese Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse set to return from the African Cup of Nations, the 25-year-old is set to be frozen out but Best chose to stay in England.

But Molina's agent, Domingo Sevilliano revealed that his striker WAS open to a move to Celtic but was denied the chance to leave by the club. He said: "In the past week, I have presented Celtic's offers to Betis but they didn't respond until the weekend.

"On Monday, Celtic increased the money and there were negotiations. Their offer was interesting to Jorge but it wasn't up to him. Betis wanted more money."

Meanwhile, Hoops new boy Brozek revealed there was no Old Firm choice to make - as Rangers didn't even make an offer.

Brozek signed for Celts just hours after Rangers manager Ally McCoist made it clear he wanted the hitman.

But when asked if Gers had made any offer, Brozek said: "No, there was no official contact from Rangers so there was no decision."